Why Africa’s history is more than just the slave trade
Has our focus on the impact of the transatlantic slave trade blinded us to the diversity and complexity of Africa's past? That's one of the arguments at the heart of…
The Great Stink: everything you wanted to know
Why, in the 1850s, was the excrement of thousands of people being deposited straight into the Thames? How lethal were Victorian London's cholera outbreaks? And why is Joseph Bazalgette one…
How the compass became a political weapon
Why did early Islamic cartographers place south at the top of their maps? Who invented the magnetic compass? And why has 'the west' become an intensely political term, as well…
A Victorian cult: inside the strange world of the Agapemone
In the 1840s, a strange, secretive community known as the Agapemonites set up camp in Spaxton, Somerset. Presided over by a rogue Anglican priest who believed he had a hotline…
Chivalry: everything you wanted to know
Where does the word "chivalry" come from? How should an honourable knight treat his vanquished foes? And do chivalric ideals underlie modern-day misogyny? In our latest Everything you wanted to…
Cat history: everything you wanted to know
Cats have lived alongside us for centuries, and our relationship with them has transformed over time – from venerating them to vilifying them. What roles have humans cast cats in…
Tudor childhood: from dodging death to nursery rhymes
Nicholas Orme, author of new book Tudor Children, joined Emily Briffett to talk about the lives of young people in the era
Sexing up history: how to study and tell the history of sex
Cultural historian Dr Fern Riddell appears regularly on tv and radio as an expert in Victorian sex and suffrage, and if anyone knows their history in this area, it’s Fern.…
A brief history of changing hairstyles
Britons have long tried to make statements about themselves through the hair on their heads. From the 'Henry VIII pageboy' to Twenties bobs via Cavalier curls, historian Lucy Worsley reveals…